


Two wrongs don't make a right--maybe he needs to keep trying

by kaihanbitches



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Cat/Human Hybrids, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 01:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaihanbitches/pseuds/kaihanbitches
Summary: Drinking at odd hours of the day has made him realize that he’s a thinker. And thinkers think. And anyone that thinks is a smart person right? Anyone that thinks is a person that makes good choices right? Wrong. (re-up submission for yolliepopday 2014)





	Two wrongs don't make a right--maybe he needs to keep trying

As a college student, it’s not unusual for Chanyeol to have a weird schedule. He’s doing his History paper at three in the morning and drinking beer in the afternoon. If he was still at home, he’d be castrated for all the dumb things he decided would be okay to do in college. For some reason, he seems to think that going to college  _allows_  you to get away with all this shit because you’re invincible once you’re legally an adult right? Wrong.  
  
It’s a Saturday morning when Chanyeol decides in a drunken stupor that he should do something brilliant. The thing about being a junior is that he’s allowed to live off campus, and all the cool kids lived in studio apartments that didn’t come with meal plans. Chanyeol wanted to be a cool kid, and the first couple months were great. He could scratch his balls whenever he wanted and leave toothpaste all over the counters and no one other than himself would care! He was living the life, so there was no reason why he should be unhappy—only he was. Drinking at odd hours of the day has made him realize that he’s a thinker. And thinkers think. And anyone that thinks is a smart person right? Anyone that thinks is a person that makes good choices right? Wrong.  
  
In the brilliancy of one of his thinking sessions, he decides that now is a great time to get a pet to cure his loneliness. Pets are lovely creatures that you can sleep with, eat with, play with, and they’re not likely to curse you out for having one too many cartons of expired milk in the fridge! A dog requires too much attention he’s not able to give with his hectic schedule and a fish is so low maintenance he might forget about it! He should totally have a cat. Cats are nice, pretty, and cuddly! Wrong.  
  
Chanyeol walks into a hybrid store partially drunk out of his mind because why not? He just turned in his Psych final an hour ago and that’s a cause for celebration. The entire exchange is a blur, all he remembers is signing a piece of paper and being told  _Thank you for your patronage! He will arrive next week on Monday. Hope to see you soon!_  And really, that should have been the first sign that something wasn’t right—because he has owned pets before and it has never been that easy to adopt unless it was a fish or snail or  _something_ but not a  _cat_.  
  
He spends the rest of his weekend after nursing his splitting headache and watching old American cartoons. He’s really living the life, all he has to do is rinse and repeat his weekly schedule and time flies by faster than usual—and before he knows it, it’s  _Monday_.  
  
His doorbell rings and that’s strange because he only ordered takeout five minutes ago. Whoever’s behind that door deserves a really good tip for probably disobeying traffic laws. He gets up with his wallet and forgoes looking through the peephole. Although he probably should have. He’s not the smartest cookie.  
  
What greets him is a disinterested looking male with twitching black ears and a half raised tail. Incredibly cute, incredibly tiny, but also incredibly  _intimidating_.  
  
“So. Are you going to let me in or what?” Chanyeol gapes in front of his door like a fish and obediently stumbles out of the way when the catboy nudges his way inside with a ratty backpack in tow.  
  
“Disgusting, not even low-key disgusting,” the catboy comments flippantly when he notices toenail clippings on the carpet.  
  
“Hey! I’ll have you know I was totally going to clean that up last week! I just got sidetracked…” Chanyeol trails off, scratching his head sheepishly. Then he wonders why he’s even trying to explain himself to a stranger in the first place.  
  
The catboy sets his things down on the couch and gingerly tries to find a spot that isn’t littered with dirty clothing, only to settle himself down on a rather expensive crewneck from Supreme. Chanyeol cries out when Kyungsoo decides it’ll be fine to dig his claws—fuck he has  _claws_ –into Chanyeol’s precious new sweater.  
  
“Hey! That thing probably costs more than a week’s paycheck, I’ll have you know!” Chanyeol hurries to shoo the catboy off his sweater but he’s already migrating to the kitchen.  
  
“Do you have milk?”  
  
Chanyeol is belatedly entranced by the twitching of the catboy’s ears but he responds with, “There should be in the top shelf I think. Wait—who are you even?”  
  
The catboy sniffs through a chunky carton and gags on the smell before dumping the entire thing in the sink because the trash can is too full.  
  
“Are you trying to kill me? Is this place even inhabitable? Gross,” the catboy frowns distastefully. Chanyeol bristles because  _hey_  this is his haven and he doesn’t take well to having it be insulted by a stranger.  
  
“Get out of my home,” Chanyeol whines, stomping his foot childishly.  
  
“Uh no, this is my home too. Unfortunately.” The catboy takes out a crumpled piece of paper from his pant pocket and shoves it up Chanyeol’s face. It’s a certificate of ownership of one  _Do Kyungsoo: Black Cat Hybrid_. Chanyeol assumes this catboy is Kyungsoo.  
  
“Read this and tell me what it says,” Kyungsoo says. Chanyeol scans the paper with his eyes, having to lean back a little to see the words without his eyes double-crossing.  
  
“This documented transaction refers to the catboy Kyungsoo, who is hereinafter transferred to the adopting owner Park Chanyeol, with the understanding that the adopter is taking possession of the catboy to treat and to be responsible for it as their own. Blah, blah, blah… Wait, what? Own? Me? But  _why_?” Chanyeol doesn’t even have any recollection of this ever happening, but he can tell it’s his handwriting from anywhere. Kyungsoo sighs, staring at Chanyeol impatiently, pursing his lips in displeasure.  
  
“ _Because_  you dimwit. You bought me for five thousand dollars and a  _half-empty bottle of beer_.” Kyungsoo bares his teeth angrily. Chanyeol thinks he would be mad too if he was bought with a half-empty bottle of beer and… five thousand dollars? He doesn’t even have five thousand dollars to spare. Other than the money his parents sent for his… tuition money. Fuck.  
  
“Noooo, no no no. This cannot be happening. Who allowed me to make decisions? What am I doing with my life,” Chanyeol moans. Kyungsoo licks the back of his hand, humming in agreement. He remembers it like it was just yesterday—it was actually two days ago.  
  
Apparently, Chanyeol had come strolling in like he was a badass and waved his credit card around like a loon and sloshed beer all over the previously clean establishment. Kyungsoo had been the unlucky one he had tripped on and Chanyeol flailed all over until he ended up sitting on Kyungsoo’s tail.  
  
“What the fuck are you trying to pull?! How are you going to repay me if you break my tail, jackass?!” Chanyeol had only given him the ugliest pair of gooey eyes and crushed Kyungsoo to his chest.  
  
“I likeeee youuu,” Chanyeol had gurgled dumbly, smushing Kyungsoo’s face between his gigantic palms.  
  
“UNHAND ME YOU HEATHEN,” Kyungsoo hissed, but Chanyeol grabbed onto his waist and refused to let him go no matter how much Kyungsoo clawed at him or yowled indignantly.  
  
“Sir, um. Sir? You’re not allowed to do that,” the cashier said meekly. The cashier was fairly cute too, a puppy hybrid with the cute floppy brown ears. Kyungsoo was still cuter though because Chanyeol said so.  
  
“Baekhyun! Do something, you useless piece of shit!” And that was probably what set him off. Baekhyun smiled sweetly at Chanyeol.  
  
“What do you have?” Chanyeol handed over his card and the rest of his beer. The dog lapped around the tip of the glass bottle of beer curiously, ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘ahh-ing’ at the foreign taste. Jongin doesn’t really allow him to drink anything other than what’s recommended for hybrids but whatever this drink is, it’s a lot more different than all the sodas Baekhyun has tried to sneak in.  
  
“You can have him for the rest of this drink and fifty dollars!” Baekhyun grinned.  
  
“That’s greattt! I’d pay all the money in the world for this cutie!” Chanyeol slurred, giggled, and then hiccupped all within five seconds. Quite an impressive feat. Baekhyun didn’t quite know how to operate the cash register without Jongin’s help, so he just pressed the five and the zero button enough for it to look right and he was pretty sure that’d be fine.  
  
“Okay, you’re set! Oh! Oh! You have to sign this thing too. We’re supposed to do checkups and stuff before that but you seem like a really cool dude so we can just skip that probably, right?” Wrong. But it’s not like Baekhyun knows that. Chanyeol signs off the sheet wherever Baekhyun tells him to and wow he has a cat now. Baekhyun carefully detangles Kyungsoo from Chanyeol. Chanyeol pouts until he’s reassured that they’re just going to give Kyungsoo the proper shots before handing him over. Baekhyun is very proud that he distinctly remembers Jongin telling him that those were the protocols.  
  
“Thank you for your patronage! He’ll arrive next week on Monday. Hope to see you soon!” Kyungsoo scowls in the back, muttering lowly about how dumb Baekhyun is.  
  
“Wow, I sounded really cool,” Chanyeol says, clapping at the rehashed story. Kyungsoo frowns really hard. This was not what he wanted. At all.  
  
The doorbell rings.  
  
“Did I order another one of you?” Chanyeol runs over to the door and the smell of pizza wafts into the living room. Kyungsoo takes the pizza stealthily while Chanyeol grabs his wallet to pay for the pizza.  
  
“Hyung, who is that?” Sehun tries to peer into Chanyeol’s apartment, but Chanyeol blocks his view. Frowning, Sehun pouts up at Chanyeol and it usually works effectively enough for him to get whatever he wants. It doesn’t.  
  
“Maybe later, also tell me how you did on the Psych final later.” Chanyeol hands Sehun enough for the pizza with his usual stingy tip. At least this time, there’s an actual reason for it—and cause of said reason is already opening his box of pizza.  
  
“Okay, you can have  _one_ ,” Chanyeol says. He shuts the door and turns around. Kyungsoo has the cutest expression of deep concentration on his face while he chases the string of cheese from his bite of pizza. After a moment of silent cooing, Chanyeol also realizes Kyungsoo has picked out all his favorite toppings from his meat-lover’s pizza and piled it precariously onto a single slice of pizza. He has no idea what he got himself into, but he can totally bullshit his way through this situation right? Wrong.  
  
  
  
  
  
“Listen, if we’re going to live together, we have to have rules.” Kyungsoo scowls, but seems somewhat intrigued by the idea. He nibbles on his pizza, leaving the crust at the edge of the pizza box—but that’s okay because the crust is Chanyeol’s favorite anyways.  
  
“What is it?” Kyungsoo licks grease and stray marinara sauce off his fingers, temporarily distracting Chanyeol. Chanyeol clears his throat, scrambling through his head for rules. He didn’t really think it through, but he thought having rules would be a good start; only he usually doesn’t have any rules to go by, at least not ones that he would want to adhere to himself.  
  
“Rule one, don’t bring in dead mice.” Chanyeol ticks it off his finger, nodding to himself. Kyungsoo doesn’t look too impressed. “Rule two, don’t wake me up past noon. Rule three, clean up after yourself… probably. Rule four, don’t fall in love with me.” Chanyeol raises the back of his hand up to his forehead in mock distress but one look at Kyungsoo and he can already tell that his new catboy doesn’t even care. Ouch, he doesn’t tend to get along well with people that can’t handle his sense of humor.  
  
“Is that it?” Kyungsoo stands up with his bag and heads to the bathroom. Chanyeol sighs, how is he supposed to get along with someone who is practically his exact opposite? He digs his phone out from his pocket, dialing the one person he knows will be able to understand him.  
  
Jongdae picks up almost immediately, pleasantly greeting Chanyeol over the phone.  
  
“Jongdae, I got a catboy and I don’t think he likes me.” Chanyeol hears the sound of water coming from his shower and pouts. The catboy hadn’t even asked Chanyeol to join him or wash his back.  
  
“I’ll come over tomorrow, maybe he’ll like me more. What’s his name?” Chanyeol can hear Jongdae shuffling in the background, probably getting into a comfier position.  
  
“His name is Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol says, frowning when he hears Jongdae’s mischievous hum.  
  
“Don’t even think about corrupting my catboy,” Chanyeol growls. Despite not having a receptive hybrid, Chanyeol tends to be territorial over what belongs to him. Especially whatever cost him more than twenty dollars.  
  
“You know, he’s not just a cat right? He’s a cat _boy_ ; it’s okay to treat him normal I think.” Chanyeol grumbles, why did he have to choose friends that liked to listen to reason? Maybe he should have just bought a regular cat. Can you refund catboys? But at the same time, Chanyeol doesn’t really want to give up before he’s gotten Kyungsoo to even like him.  
  
“Are you really going to come over tomorrow,” Chanyeol asks.  
  
“Maybe, I might bring fresh fish too.”  
  
“You’re just trying to get brownie points,” Chanyeol complains. Kyungsoo walks out from the bathroom, Chanyeol’s towel dwarfing his shoulders and his dark pajamas that fit a little too loosely. It’s cute enough for Chanyeol to momentarily forget how  _mean_  Kyungsoo is. Kyungsoo looks apprehensive, trying to shift away from Chanyeol’s stare if that was even possible. He quickly hangs up on Jongdae after a quick  _talk to you later, okay bye_  and grins down at his cute catboy.  
  
Kyungsoo looks back up at him, ear twitching irritatedly. “Can’t we just get along?” Chanyeol whines, hugging Kyungsoo’s small form. Kyungsoo wriggles out of his embrace, baring his teeth before making a dash into Chanyeol’s bedroom.  
  
It’s not the cleanest room ever, but it’s somewhat clean and that seems to be good enough for Kyungsoo. He circles around the bed, groping around for the comfiest pillow and securing it between his legs—laying right in the middle.  
  
“Hey, this is my bed,” Chanyeol protests, trying to shift Kyungsoo to one side of the bed. “Aren’t you supposed to sleep at the foot of my bed or something?” Kyungsoo seems sufficiently  _done_  with Chanyeol and turns his back to Chanyeol.  
  
Sighing, Chanyeol runs his greasy hand through his hair and decides to wash up for the night.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chanyeol wakes up in the morning with a crick in his neck. Gasping in slight pain, Chanyeol tries his best to survey the state of his apartment after he fell asleep last night. Surprisingly, it’s a lot cleaner than he’s ever seen it before. He thought kitties were supposed to wreak havoc and destroy curtains and furniture or something. Standing up, he notes that his little pile of nail clippings are gone—someone has vacuumed. Chanyeol mentally pats himself on the back for at least picking a catboy that was useful.  
  
“Kyungsoo?” He doesn’t receive an answer in response and doesn’t think anything of it, so he retreats to the bathroom to take a hot shower and hopefully get rid of some of the kink in his neck. The first thing he notices is that there’s a second toothbrush next to his own. It’s a generic one, simplistic in design but horribly overused with wayward bristles. He makes a mental note to buy a new one for Kyungsoo.  
  
Chanyeol uses his time in the shower to  _not_  think—if that makes sense. When he’s showering, the only thing he’s thinking about is how nice the water feels and how nice his shampoo smells. And then he realizes his shampoo doesn’t smell like his shampoo. Curiously, Chanyeol chances a peek at the label on the bottle.  
  
It is not his shampoo. It doesn’t even belong to him. It’s a bottle of shampoo specialized for hybrids. After weighing his options, Chanyeol decides to just roll with the flow. There’s probably not much of a difference between pet shampoo and human shampoo anyways. Kyungsoo probably wouldn’t notice, but then again, Chanyeol probably shouldn’t get on his bad side. Then again, Chanyeol has a habit of making wrong choices quite frequently. Hashtag YOLO.  
  
He spends half an hour in the bathroom, carefully grooming himself. He wipes the steam away from the mirror, smirking at his handsome reflection. He presses his palm on the cold mirror and purses his lips; his royal handsomeness might be overdue for a new haircut.  
  
  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo comes in through the front door when Chanyeol walks out of the bathroom clad in a towel wrapped around his waist. The catboy stares for a second and  _cringes_  before closing the door with one of his foot.  
  
Chanyeol’s not sure if he’s offended or not—he’s probably offended—since he’s a sex god and Kyungsoo just looked at him like he was a particularly bad hairball. Then again, he hasn’t been to the gym in a couple weeks and it’s taking a toll on the definition of his not-really-existent-anymore abs.  
  
“Where did you go?” Chanyeol hovers around Kyungsoo, close enough to bother the catboy but not close enough to make Kyungsoo lash out.  
  
“Where did you think I went?” Kyungsoo starts stocking fresh ingredients in the refrigerator that Chanyeol has forsaken for beer and takeout. Chanyeol takes a seat on his kitchen counter, watching Kyungsoo walk around in the kitchen like it’s his second nature.  
  
“It’s nice of you to buy the groceries this early in the morning,” Chanyeol says cautiously. Kyungsoo smiles, stocking eggs and milk in the fridge.  
  
“You don’t have to thank me,” Kyungsoo says sweetly, “I bought it with your money.” Chanyeol’s heart drops to his stomach when he sees a nice slab of fresh salmon in his fridge. It doesn’t take a genius to calculate how much he’s going to have to budget for the next few weeks after his most recent purchases in addition to the multiple bags of groceries still being stocked.  
  
“Rule five, don’t use my card without asking me! My parents are going to kill me,” Chanyeol bemoans. Kyungsoo flits around the kitchen, openly gleeful at Chanyeol’s distress. Chanyeol grabs his wrist, stopping him from putting cereal into the cupboards.  
  
“You belong to me; I  _own_  you. Stop doing things on your own.” Kyungsoo’s ears flatten and his tail twitches angrily at being so rudely ordered around.  
  
“Then return me, because I didn’t want to stay with you  _anyways_ ,” Kyungsoo sneers. Chanyeol wilts under Kyungsoo’s stare, eventually giving in and letting Kyungsoo take over his kitchen.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chanyeol’s peeking at Kyungsoo from behind the couch, subtlety is not one of his finer points. Kyungsoo’s washing the dishes that have piled in the sink and that’s definitely something Chanyeol should be thankful for. Thankfully, Kyungsoo doesn’t even look like he cares. If Chanyeol was honest, he wishes Kyungsoo cared a little more, the silence was getting stifling. Normally, Chanyeol might even talk to himself but his voice seems like it would sound out of place.  
  
Then the doorbell rings and Chanyeol scrambles to open the door. It’s Jongdae, with some takeout in his hands and a bright smile adorning his face. “Where is he?”  
  
“Wow, you don’t even greet me first in my own apartment?” Chanyeol frowns, but he doesn’t actually feel angry because no one is ever  _really_  angry with Jongdae. Snorting, Jongdae pushes Chanyeol aside and makes a pleased sort of cooing noise when he sees Kyungsoo staring at him with pique.  
  
“I brought food,” Jongdae says, and that seems to interest Kyungsoo even though he probably could have already smelt it from the kitchen.  
  
Jongdae lays everything out on the counter while Kyungsoo finishes up, Chanyeol uses this time to be entirely unhelpful and whine about his hunger until Jongdae makes him sit down and shut up.  
  
“What is this? It’s just ramen,” Chanyeol complains. At least it’s decent ramen though, from an actual shop and not the dehydrated crap in Chanyeol’s cupboard.  
  
“You’re lucky I brought you anything in the first place!” Chanyeol’s jaw drops when Jongdae slaps his hand away when he reaches for a bowl because Kyungsoo gets to choose first as the guest of honor. (“Dude. You are not doing this to me.” “Dude.” “Dude.”)  
  
Kyungsoo slides closer to Jongdae, taking serious whiffs at each bowl before deciding on curry ramen. After the first bite, Kyungsoo purrs and his tail raises up. Pleased by Kyungsoo’s reaction, Jongdae finally lets Chanyeol pick his own bowl.  
  
Kyungsoo scrunches his nose when he spies a piece of carrot in his ramen, scraping his tongue when he takes an accidental bite. Chanyeol laughs boisterously, allowing Kyungsoo to pick out all his carrot pieces and adding them to Chanyeol’s bowl. Chanyeol doesn’t love carrots but he certainly doesn’t have any personal vendetta against them. Kyungsoo’s ears flatten, hissing and covering his bowl when Chanyeol tries to sneak one back in Kyungsoo’s bowl.  
  
“It’s like you’ve never eaten carrots before,” Chanyeol muses, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”  
  
“It’s sweet but it’s not a dessert,” Kyungsoo sulks, “I don’t like it.”  
  
“Then what do you like?” Jongdae leans in, swatting Chanyeol’s arm away as he tries to feed Kyungsoo a large piece of carrot with airplane noises.  
  
“I like the egg they put on the top,” Kyungsoo says shyly, shooting a heart shaped smile when Jongdae happily splits his own egg and gives the other half to Kyungsoo.  
  
“You’re kissing up to my cat,” Chanyeol sulks, feeling like Jongdae’s supposed to be on  _his_ side. Jongdae shrugs, thanking Kyungsoo when he offers to clean up after they’re done eating.  
  
“He’s your cat _boy_  remember, he’s human too,” Jongdae chides. Jongdae’s one of those human and animal and everything in between rights activist and the only thing Chanyeol cares more about than hats is his dashing good looks.  
  
Jongdae gossips with Kyungsoo about Chanyeol and tells him at least ten stories that throws his bad reputation even further down the drain. Like the time Chanyeol dropped hundreds of dollars for a ticket to see his favorite girl group. Like the time Chanyeol dressed like a girl to try to get laid with a lesbian. Like the time Chanyeol tried to pay the cashier at McDonalds with a parking ticket. Kyungsoo responds with his own stupid Chanyeol story with the time Chanyeol tried to buy him.  
  
“ _Hey_ , that was a one-time thing,” Chanyeol complains. Jongdae rolls his eyes, shifting to allow Kyungsoo to curl up to his side as they make jokes about Chanyeol’s intellectuality. Jongdae scratches behind Kyungsoo’s ears, making noises of excitement when Kyungsoo purrs under his touch.  
  
Jongdae leaves only after fully enamoring Kyungsoo and making Chanyeol feel like a poop. Maybe Kyungsoo knows that he was feeling slightly isolated (and a little attacked) and verbally beaten down, but he’s a little nicer to Chanyeol when they get ready for bed. When Chanyeol feels his eyelids drooping, he reaches for the hem of Kyungsoo’s shirt and tugs lightly. Kyungsoo pretends to roll over in his sleep and allows Chanyeol to snuggle with him, his rapidly twitching ears despite his soft (fake) snores are a dead giveaway but Chanyeol knows better than to say anything out loud. When Chanyeol is about to succumb to sleep, he feels Kyungsoo’s tail tangling between their legs. He almost lets out a giggle with how excited he is—it’s hard to meet someone as much of a snuggler as he is. He  _knew_  there was a reason he chose Kyungsoo.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chanyeol wakes up in the morning to see Kyungsoo sitting by the window in his room, tail swishing as he watches the sun rise with a hot dog in his hand. He’s staring intently out the window, as if the entire sun would rise if he dared to blink for too long. At first, it’s a serene sight to wake up to, especially since it’s the calmest and most vulnerable he’s seen Kyungsoo since he had arrived. But then it’s almost sinful how he licks his plush lips and laps at the ketchup that threatens to spill from the other end. Despite not making any sound, Kyungsoo takes a sniff into the air and his ears flatten as he whips his head around and glares at Chanyeol’s crotch.  
  
“ _Disgusting_ ,” Kyungsoo sneers, stalking outside of the room. Chanyeol tries to flatten himself and become one with his bed. He can’t even believe that he went from doing whatever he wanted to not even being able to pop a stiffy without judgment  _in his own home_.  
  
Despite Kyungsoo’s morning hissy fit, he still leaves food for Chanyeol in the microwave. It’s just rice with soy sauce—but there’s a perfectly fried egg on top. Chanyeol coos over Kyungsoo’s thoughtfulness even though Kyungsoo refuses to spare him a glance from where he’s grooming himself with Running Man airing on Chanyeol’s television set.  
  
“We are going to do something today,” Chanyeol decides.  
  
Kyungsoo looks over at him, raising a questioning eyebrow.  
  
“We are going to meet my parents today,” Chanyeol declares. He’s not sure if this is a good decision or not, but he’s not making any bank and taking care of Kyungsoo is not really that difficult but Chanyeol needs to live to a certain standard of living and having a negative account balance is  _not the business_.  
  
  
  
  
  
Even after kindly asking Kyungsoo to take a shower with the promise of future curry ramen expeditions, Kyungsoo doesn’t look too different from how he normally looks. He only has three different pairs of clothing and they all look the same. It’s all some variation of black. “Why do you own these?” Chanyeol feels like if he put all of Kyungsoo’s clothes back in his bag, it would just look like one big black hole.  
  
“They match my tail and my ears,” Kyungsoo says defensively. Chanyeol makes a mental note to take Kyungsoo shopping after he asks his parents for money.  
  
“You need some spice in your life—some  _color_ ,” Chanyeol insists. He tries to fit Kyungsoo into one of his own shirts but it drapes over Kyungsoo’s body unfittingly. Chanyeol has hearts in his eyes as he looks at Kyungsoo scowl at the oversized Hundreds tee that threatens to expose parts of his collar.  
  
“I don’t like looking small,” Kyungsoo hisses, “I don’t like smelling like you either.”  
  
“But you look so cute,” Chanyeol whines, almost refusing to let Kyungsoo change out of the carefully picked clothing. Kyungsoo does not react well to being called  _cute_.  
  
Chanyeol does not come out unscathed from the scuffle. Kyungsoo wears his own clothes and Chanyeol hides the claw marks on his forearms with one of his flannel shirts.  _What a vicious kitty_ , Chanyeol thinks.  
  
  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo has mild nausea and his ears flatten as he grips onto his seatbelt extra tight while Chanyeol drives. He makes sure to drive slower and be extra careful in case Kyungsoo feels like puking and ruining the interior of his car.  
  
It’s late into the evening by the time they reach the front steps of Chanyeol’s parent’s house. Chanyeol’s rubbing soothing circles into Kyungsoo’s back, trying to get rid of the green tone that forms over Kyungsoo’s face.  
  
“Are you okay? Maybe we can come back next time,” Chanyeol says uncertainly. That’s the right suggestion to make right? Wrong. If anything, Kyungsoo looks like he’s more inclined to puke at the idea.  
  
“And get back into the car so soon?” Chanyeol blanches, he hadn’t thought of that. Kyungsoo nods in the direction of the door, signaling for Chanyeol to ring the doorbell so they can be done with this already. Kyungsoo looks up at Chanyeol’s mom with pitiful eyes as he tries to smile through the queasiness. Chanyeol doesn’t know if he should be offended when his own mom ushers Kyungsoo into the house before her own son.  
  
The meeting with the parents goes fairly well—even better than expected. A little too well if you ask Chanyeol. He spends the majority of the evening helping his mom pile food onto Kyungsoo’s plate as they talk about his money situation.  
  
“We’ll help,” Chanyeol’s dad says casually as he offers Kyungsoo more of their  _handmade_ kimchi. He can tell that his dad is pleased with Kyungsoo when he smacks his lips and asks for the recipe.  
  
“Please take care of our son,” Chanyeol’s mom says, giggling when Kyungsoo nods with his extra dose of seriousness.  
  
  
  
  
  
After his promise with Chanyeol’s mom, Kyungsoo makes it his life mission to nag Chanyeol as much as possible until he’s on his best behavior.  
  
They make a trip to the mall to get some more necessities with the extra money in the bank from Chanyeol’s parents. Kyungsoo hisses at the gaudy tank tops that expose way too much to be considered decent and nearly scratches Chanyeol’s eyes out when he holds out a muscle tee. He ends up with a few striped shirt and casual jeans of various colors. The white pair of jeans that Chanyeol picks out for Kyungsoo are particularly pleasing to the eyes. Kyungsoo is particularly enamored with a fluffy parka that has a fake fur lining. Despite the fact that Kyungsoo never really goes out often enough to use it anyways, Chanyeol adds it to his growing list of expenses.  
  
Although he’s pleased with his purchases, Kyungsoo gets easily agitated by the plethora of people at the mall and Chanyeol has to usher Kyungsoo along before he gets too tired and snappish.  
  
They visit the movie theaters in the mall, just because Kyungsoo wanted to watch that one movie he saw that was advertised during the middle of one of his current favorite dramas. It’s called Cart or something, Chanyeol’s not really sure because he usually doesn’t watch movies unless he’s trying to get into someone’s pants or under someone’s skirt. For many reasons, Chanyeol’s pretty sure Kyungsoo would claw Chanyeol’s face off before indulging Chanyeol with sexual favors.  
  
Kyungsoo tugs Chanyeol along, forcing Chanyeol to buy a soda and some nachos before they enter the theaters because nachos taste very good. He sneers at Chanyeol’s own choice of a slurpee and a small bag of popcorn. He allows Chanyeol to feed him popcorn during the advertisements, but refuses to share his own portion of nachos. However, Chanyeol notes that when he runs out his slurpee, Kyungsoo has spontaneously decided that he doesn’t want his soda anymore because it’s watered down. They’re not even halfway into the movie and the soda is still fizzing. Chanyeol’s smile is blinding in the dark movie theater.  
  
By the time they leave the movie, Kyungsoo’s in a much better mood and Chanyeol’s still wiping drool off his chin. “That little guy in the movie almost looks exactly like you,” Chanyeol comments. Kyungsoo bares his teeth but he doesn’t claw at Chanyeol; it’s an improvement.  
  
  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo makes sure they stop by the hybrid store on the way home. He walks inside, saying he only needs to pick up a few more things—shampoo being one of them because a certain idiot likes to take all of his special shampoo even though he doesn’t need it. Baekhyun’s face lights up when he sees Kyungsoo and he bounds over happily to greet his old friend. Kyungsoo grimaces, but his tail flickers delightedly when Baekhyun runs a slim palm over the back of his neck.  
  
“You’re an idiot,” Kyungsoo scoffs. For some reason Chanyeol can detect a fondness in his voice and internally gurgles in delight at how cute the hybrids are with interacting. Baekhyun doesn’t look the slightest bit deterred, if anything, his tag is wagging even faster.  
  
“I missed you too,” Baekhyun says brightly, squishing Kyungsoo into a tight hug. He lets Kyungsoo go so he can shop with Kyungsoo after Kyungsoo threatens to never come back.  
  
While Kyungsoo heads directly to the shampoo section, Chanyeol adds absolutely everything he thinks they need. He puts three variations of animal themed toothbrushes for Kyungsoo into the basket when Kyungsoo scowls.  
  
“Those are for ages 3 and up,” Kyungsoo says, pointing at the small bristles. Chanyeol pouts long enough that Kyungsoo reluctantly picks a random toothbrush and adds it to the cart.  
  
“How do you feel about collars?” Kyungsoo slaps Chanyeol’s hand away when he tries to grab for a garish rhinestone encrusted collar.  
  
“I’m not a pet,” Kyungsoo says, “I am a  _companion_.”  
  
Pouting, Chanyeol explores more of the store while Kyungsoo wheedles an employee discount out of Baekhyun. Then his attention is caught at a bright blue and pink section tiled  _Couple Items for 50% off_.  
  
“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol whispers, awe tinged in his voice. Kyungsoo grimaces when Chanyeol stocks items into their cart despite all of his objections.  
  
“Fine, but you’re getting the pink ones,” Kyungsoo grumbles. And that is how they end up with an extra hundred dollars’ worth of coasters, sweaters, cups, cutlery, and dishware.  
  
  
  
  
  
“Kyungsoo, I’m going to invite a friend over,” Chanyeol says, placing his cup of water on one of their matching coasters. Kyungsoo looks pleased with how Chanyeol’s making an active effort towards keeping their apartment clean.  
  
“Is it Jongdae?” Chanyeol snorts, beckoning Kyungsoo closer. Kyungsoo comes as close as sitting on the same couch, but keeps Chanyeol at a full leg distance away with physical force when Chanyeol tries to wrangle him into a cuddle session.  
  
“No, you met him before.  _Kind of_ , I mean—I guess? He’s the pizza guy but he’s also my junior in school,” Chanyeol explains. Kyungsoo sinks into the couch, shrugging nonchalantly.  
  
“I don’t care. He better bring pizza though,” Kyungsoo says.  
  
“Extra sausage?” Kyungsoo smiles, pleased with the suggestion.  
  
  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo’s taking a nap while Chanyeol cleans the apartment—not that there’s much to clean anymore. He promises to wake Kyungsoo up when the pizza arrives and is still hot.  
  
True to his promise, Sehun shows up on a Friday night with a box of pizza. Chanyeol answers the door in his pink sweater to match with Kyungsoo when he spies the pack of beers in Sehun’s other hand.  
  
“I wasn’t really planning on getting drunk today,” Chanyeol says. He lets Sehun in anyways, looking confusedly as Sehun struts inside with his shades still attached stupidly on his head.  
  
“Of course we’re not going to get drunk, we’re going to get  _smashed_ ,” Sehun says triumphantly. Chanyeol’s eyes widen in horror when Sehun proceeds to drape his dirty shoes over the newly cleaned couch.  
  
“Fuck man, Kyungsoo is going to kill us when he sees this. Dude, yeah, I’m not sure if I’m down for getting smashed tonight. Tomorrow I have to go to the financial aid office and see if they’ll give me more money for having a dependent with me.  
  
Sehun’s mouth drops like he really can’t see where this is coming from. Especially since a few days ago, Chanyeol’s typical response would have been a fierce  _hell yeah_.  
  
“Sure, that’s fine. But are you really okay with letting your little catboy take over your life? This isn’t you man. You’re turning  _domestic_ ,” Sehun says, goading Chanyeol. Furrowing his eyebrows, Chanyeol crosses and arms and stares at Sehun critically.  
  
“What do you mean?” Sehun shrugs his shoulders, a smirk playing on his lips.  
  
“I’m saying that you’re  _whipped_.”  
  
Chanyeol would like to think he’s the type of person who doesn’t easily fall into traps set up by others. He’s a strong willed man who knows how to make his own decisions without influence. Wrong.  
  
“You’re talking to the number one party king of all time,” Chanyeol gloats.  
  
  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo wakes up to numerous voices floating around but what is even more concerning, is the thudding dubstep that shakes the floor of the apartment. He attempts to burrow himself back into the warm blankets and the surprising softness of his half of the couple sweaters. He wrenches the door open to give Chanyeol a piece of his mind when he finds that he doesn’t even have to search for Chanyeol in the throng of people. Chanyeol’s standing on top of their newly cleaned table with a bottle of beer in his hands. His couple sweater is tied around the waist of his sagging pants, most probably already stained with alcohol—it’s annoying.  
  
Clearly, their progress was regressing.  
  
Kyungsoo marches right up to Chanyeol, ready to give Chanyeol a piece of his mind. “What the fuck are you doing?” Chanyeol doesn’t even look lucid enough to give Kyungsoo a proper answer.  
  
“Hell yeah, catboy give us a lap dance!” Kyungsoo whips his head around, trying to single out the person that was speaking about him so degradingly.  
  
“Kyungsoo’s  _the bae_ ,” Chanyeol slurs, leaning down to capture Kyungsoo in a sloppy kiss. Kyungsoo lashes out and attempts to land a palm on Chanyeol’s face, but Chanyeol catches his hand before Kyungsoo can hit him.  
  
“I own you? Whyyy don’t you listen to me?”  
  
“This is not you, can we stop this?” Kyungsoo snaps, his tail curling downwards and adamantly trying to avoid physical contact with any other person in the room.  
  
“This is the real me, baby!” Chanyeol tries to lean in for a second kiss and is met with Kyungsoo’s fist to his balls. A resounding noise of sympathy courses throughout the room while Sehun makes his way up to Kyungsoo.  
  
“Listen, if you have a problem with our party king then you can leave. Say hello to the door, party-pooper!” Chanyeol starts a second round of collective jeering only this time, Kyungsoo’s getting ushered out the door and (hopefully only temporarily) thrown out of his home.  
  
“Who the fuck do those people think they are?” Kyungsoo hisses, hands clenching and unclenching in anger.  
  
“Vile people,” Kyungsoo spats, vision blurring with tears.  
  
  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo finds his way to the hybrid store, just as it’s beginning to rain. Baekhyun’s rushing up to him immediately, checking for any signs of injury—but no, it’s really just a bad case of hurt feelings.  
  
“That was a dick move,” Baekhyun says, ripping open a packet of beef jerky to share with Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo’s tail hangs low, allowing Baekhyun to coddle him. Jongin peeks out from the back, surprised to see Kyungsoo, then he spies the package in Baekhyun’s hands.  
  
“We’re supposed to be selling that,” Jongin says halfheartedly. Baekhyun’s tail droops between his legs. Jongin’s always had a soft spot for his puppy hybrid and lets him off with the third final warning of the day.  
  
“He spoils me,” Baekhyun says smugly. Kyungsoo fiddles with the hem of his blue sweater.  
  
“Chanyeol promises me curry ramen and he didn’t make me return a big piece of salmon once,” Kyungsoo says.  
  
“Do you miss him?”  
  
Kyungsoo rolls the idea around in his head, stricken with dismay when he realizes, “Yeah, probably.”  
  
  
  
  
  
A few hours later, Kyungsoo bids Baekhyun goodbye. He lies and tells Jongin that Chanyeol called and is already on his way to pick him up. Is he welcomed back home yet? When is it safe to come home? How long does one host a party before it’s over? Kyungsoo frowns, he thinks once he sees the state of the apartment or even one of their rotten faces, he’ll cry and scratch out their eyes probably.  
  
It may be raining a little harder than before, but the rain is more comforting than the idea of going back home.  
  
  
  
  
  
It’s not even until Jongin calls Chanyeol to check up on Kyungsoo that he even realizes that anything is even amiss. His stomach lurches with panic, and it’s all his fault.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chanyeol’s trying to walk as fast as he can to wherever Kyungsoo might be in his beat-up Vans when he spots him. Kyungsoo’s huddled in an alleyway, back pressed to the wall, and barely covered under a box turned upside down over his head to protect himself from the rain. He’s beautiful, with large eyes and full lips. His consciousness tells him that he should apologize first or let the cat sulk on his own until he comes back. His heart tugs him forward until he’s three feet away from the catboy, who doesn’t even hiss at him.  
  
“Hey,” Chanyeol whispers, crouching down and tapping the wet concrete with his fingers. The catboy looks over to him despondently, unmoving, while Chanyeol slowly makes his way over. He gets a better look at Kyungsoo, heart wrenching from the sight of dark eye bags and chapped lips. Making up his mind, Chanyeol extends a hand and hopes the catboy won’t scratch him.  
  
“Hey, want to come back home with me?” Kyungsoo looks mildly surprised, before his expression turns blank once more. His tail swings lazily behind him as he regards Chanyeol with narrowed eyes. Chanyeol stays still as the catboy comes closer; it feels like half an hour has passed before the catboy lays a palm on Chanyeol’s outstretched hand.  
  
“Even though you’re soaking wet, you’re still a handsome one aren’t you,” Chanyeol murmurs, other hand coming up to lightly scratch behind the catboy’s ears. Chanyeol’s pleased to note the catboy’s ears relaxing under his touches.  
  
“I’m sorry I let you leave,” Chanyeol says, voice dripping with guilt. And maybe that was really all Kyungsoo wanted—an invitation to come back and a real apology.  
  
They walk to Chanyeol’s apartment, hand-in-hand. Kyungsoo’s grip is surprisingly firm as if he’s afraid Chanyeol might let go and make him suffer the rain by himself. Chanyeol fishes his keys out from his pocket and unlocks the door. It’s still not the most glamorous housing Kyungsoo’s ever been in—but its home. Solo cups litter the trash can and the air reeks of stale beer but it’s something he can deal with.  
  
Kyungsoo’s not shy about wandering inside the apartment, tail slightly raised as he finds his way onto the couch. Chanyeol accidentally raises his voice, complaining about how wet his couch is going to be. Instantly, Kyungsoo’s ears flatten and his claws dig into the cushions, flattening himself onto the couch. Chanyeol holds his hands up in a sign of surrender and Kyungsoo’s lips stretch into his signature heart-shaped smile.  
  
“ _Disgusting_ ,” Kyungsoo says, but there’s no bite to his words. Chanyeol pouts, letting Kyungsoo take over his couch. He’s going to have to let it go. There’s a lot of forgiving to be done.  
  
Even while he’s scrubbing stains off the couch, Chanyeol thinks  _I’ve done something right for once; I’m a changed man_.  
  
(Kyungsoo takes a look at his progress. “Chanyeol are you trying to take the stain out with  _water_?”)  
  
Wrong.


End file.
